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I have just returned from a week away in Scotland and whilst enjoying myself in the capital city Edinburgh I couldn’t help wondering about the Scottish connections in my family tree.

Edinburgh, Scotland from Arthur's Seat

My 3x great-grandfather Thomas KINGHORN was born in Scotland or at least he seems to have been. His father (and presumably his mother) was living in Moffat at the time of his birth, although his baptism took place in Carlisle, south of the border.

I find it hard to see this situation as a rightful claim to Scottish ancestry, rather that he was probably born to English parents who happened to be living in Scotland at the time, although this wasn’t just a one-off, because Thomas had five brothers and sisters all born and baptised in the same circumstances.

At the moment I don’t have any good evidence about where Thomas’ parents came from, but my best guess would have to be south of the border, due to a lack of evidence on the Scotlands People website.

It seems likely to me that a few generations back I will find definite Scottish roots. The surname KINGHORN sounds particularly Scottish to me, probably connected to the town of Kinghorn in Fife. Of course it is dangerous to leap to such conclusions, the only way to be certain is to work backwards in the traditional manner, another project to look forward to when time and money permit.